Still Soft
by HecateA
Summary: Ginny had no idea how long it would take for her to make friends at Hogwarts, but she did take in a stray rather quickly. Oneshot. Written for Romance Awareness Day 19: The first time you touch your soulmate (shaking hands, brushing past each other or whatever you like) you're forced to relive the best and/or worst day of their lives.


**Author's Note: **Enjoy! Written for 31 Days of Soulmate AUs Day 19 (I'm, ah, late): The first time you touch your soulmate (shaking hands, brushing past each other or whatever you like) you're forced to relive the best and/or worst day of their lives.

**Disclaimer: **The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

**Warnings: **NA

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**Stacked with: **MC4A; Shipping Wars; Hogwarts; Harmony of Souls Eternal

**Individual Challenge(s): **Gryffindor MC; Ravenclaw MC; Red Moon Quindrabble; 3rd Rule Bribery (HP Edition) (Y); Creature People; Seeds; Golden Times; Old Shoes; Theme & Things A (Truth); Themes & Things B (Innocence); The 3rd Rule; Rian-Russo Inversion; In a Flash; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux

**Representation(s): **Soulmate!AU

**Bonus challenge(s): NA**

**Tertiary bonus challenge: **

**Word Count: **1147

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_**Shipping Wars**_

**Ship (Team): **Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley (Dreamy Redhead)

**List (Prompt): **Summer Medium 1 (Death/Dying)

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**Still Soft **

Hermione had let Ginny sit with her even if Ron and Harry hadn't been on the train, which had been really nice of her. But she couldn't cross the lake with Ginny since she was a second year, so she squeezed her hand and promised to see her later, maybe even at the Gryffindor table if that's where Ginny got sorted to.

Ginny kind of lingered in the back of the crowd of first years and wound up next to a girl with tangled dirty blonde hair. She was wearing long dangling earrings that looked like golden beetles and each of her fingernails was a different colour. A yellow scarf dotted with white flowers held some of her hair up in a soft ponytail and the ends trailed down to her mid-back.

"Don't push, weirdo," some kid snapped at her, cutting in front of them. Ginny was about to protest, but the other girl looked at Ginny and shook her head.

"He's just nervous because it's our first day," she said solemnly. "He didn't have to be rude, but that's okay. We get to ride together now"

The boy looked back and shot them a dirty look, but Ginny smiled.

"Your earrings are nice," she told the girl. Ginny didn't have a lot of jewelry—she had gotten a few gifts from Mum over the years, but she didn't wear it much because she was always afraid of what her brothers would say and if they'd maybe break things while roughhousing.

"Thank you," she said, fingering the earrings. "They're one of the only pieces of jewelry I have that I didn't make, but that's okay because they're lucky. I wore them since I'm a little nervous as well."

"Me too," Ginny admitted. "My name's Ginny."

"Luna," she said. Her eyes were big and such a soft blue that they looked a little silver. Her skin was soft and pale.

Luna was quiet as the line inched forward as Hagrid, who Ron had promised Ginny was the nicest person at Hogwarts, helped load everybody into the boats. The nice thing was that the quiet wasn't awkward as if Ginny was being ignored or as if Luna didn't want to be there, it was like being with Charlie.

They got to sit in their own boat and it steered itself across the magical lake.

"This is the most beautiful thing in the whole world," Luna breathed, looking around. "I wish I had a camera, but I suppose that's what memories are for."

Ginny nodded. Her fingers itched to touch the surface of the lake, but Hagrid had said to keep all of their hands in the boats. She clamped her hands on the edge of the boat instead.

"You should just reach out if that's what you want," Luna said with a smile. "We're only going to do this once."

"That's true," Ginny said. She reached out and let her fingertips drag across the surface of the lake before squealing and retracting her fingers back in the boat. She turned back to Luna with a daredevil smile on her face and laughed. Luna laughed too and tilted her head up.

"It would be great to touch the stars too," Luna said.

"Maybe we'll be in astronomy class together," Ginny said. She kind of hoped that they would be.

When they got to the harbour, Ginny got out of the boat first. Luna sat still, seemingly lost in thought. It felt rude to interrupt her daydream, but Ginny cleared her throat.

"Luna?" she said quietly. "Luna, we should go."

"Oh," Luna said. "Sorry, I was enjoying the ride very much…"

"That's okay," Ginny smiled. She held out her hand. "Here…"

Luna took her hand and suddenly Ginny wasn't on the Hogwarts' grounds anymore—she was in a room with butter yellow walls and messy, bulky desks covered in papers and scrolls and parchment and stacks of books. A blackboard on the wall was covered in chalk marks—there were equations, lists, drawings, and graphs, as well as children's drawings in colourful hues.

"Mama," she heard a tiny voice behind her whimper. "Mama, stop… Stop mama, stop…"

Ginny spun around and gasped when she saw the woman lying on the floor. She looked unnaturally stretched and stiff, and her eyes were wide and faraway. She was making gasping, choking sounds. Her hands were shaking but otherwise she couldn't seem to move. The little girl kneeling next to her was holding her arm. She was really little—maybe four years old…

"Mama," the little girl said. Her hair was neatly parted in the center and braided in two braids. She was wearing a sky-blue dress with purple flowers and puffy white clouds stitched on, and those silvery blue eyes left no question as to who she was...

"Mama, breathe," Luna whispered. "Mama, please, please, please."

Ginny looked around helplessly, but then she realized that there was nothing she could do. It was hard to look at the scene before her so she scrambled to look anywhere else at all in the workshop where they stood. That was when she noticed the broken wand that had fallen to the floor, the scorch marks everywhere that indicated some sort of accident…

"Mama!"

She turned back towards the little girl. Her mum's eyes had rolled up into her eyes and she was now silent.

"Mama, daddy's going to be here soon!" Luna choked. She shook her mum. "Mama! Mama!"

And all of a sudden Ginny was back on the dock looking down at the girl whose memory she'd just plunged into.

She had no idea what to do or how to react. She had no idea if Luna had looked into her mind too, and if she had Ginny had no idea what Luna might have seen. But she knew it wouldn't be anywhere close to what Ginny had seen just moments ago.

Luna didn't break eye contact with Ginny. She didn't even looked confused or anything, just curious.

"Come along, then," Hagrid said. "They'll be waiting for you."

"Mr Hagrid?" Luna asked sweetly. "Will there be a chance for us to come back to the lake and see it more?"

"Of course," Hagrid said. "I'd be happy to show it to you myself anytime."

Ginny looked to Luna again. She looked just as gentle and contemplative and pleased with the world as she had a second before. That incredible softness seemed even softer now that Ginny had seen… well, she wasn't sure how she'd seen it, but she knew it was a memory.

She made a decision in that moment that she'd do everything she would to keep that softness that way.

"I'd love to come too," she chimed in.

Luna turned back to her and smiled.

"Oh good," Luna said. "It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it might to make a friend."

Ginny blushed.


End file.
